RSF calls for former Gambia president to stand trial for journalist’s murder

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, now living in exile in Equatorial Guinea, to be extradited back to Gambia to stand trial for the 2004 murder of Deyda Hydara, a newspaper editor who was the dean of Gambia’s journalists and RSF’s correspondent. RSF issued the call after an army officer confessed on July 22nd to Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission that he carried out Hydara's murder and said it was ordered by President Jammeh.  Detained since 8 February 2017, two weeks after Jammeh’s removal from office and…Read more

Channels TV reporter dies from injuries after shooting at Nigeria protest

Nigerian authorities should immediately investigate the death of Precious Owolabi, a reporter for the privately owned Channels TV, who was shot during a protest in Abuja on July 22, and ensure those responsible are held to account. Owolabi, 23, was shot while covering a confrontation between Shiite Muslim protesters and Nigerian police, and died the same day after being taken to a hospital, according to a Channels TV broadcast uploaded to its YouTube page. He had been covering a protest over the detention of Ibrahim Yaqoub El Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, according…Read more

Art Exhibition in Mumbai

Henrietta Nicholson, the widow of long-standing CPU Trustee and Executive Committee member Brian Nicholson, is holding an exhibition of her paintings in commemoration of her late husband's work within the Commonwealth newspaper industry, and her late father's involvement with Tata Airlines. The private view will be held in the Art Gallery at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Mumbai on Monday October 7th 2019 at 6.30. Henrietta is an accomplished artist and examples of her work can be found by clicking here.Read more

Three men to be tried in Malta for Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) takes note of the announcement by the Maltese authorities that three men are to be tried for journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder in 2017 but insists that all those who wanted to silence her must be brought to justice. The announcement came 21 months to the day after Caruana Galizia, a journalist who investigated corruption, was killed by a bomb placed under her car outside her home in Malta. The three men – Vincent Muscat and Alfred and Georges Degiorgio – have been held for the past 19 months…Read more

TV news channels blocked in Pakistan after airing opposition speeches

Pakistan authorities should immediately unblock broadcasts of privately owned news channels Capital TV, 24 News HD, and Abtak News 247, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, Capital TV posted a notice on Twitter stating that the three channels' transmissions had been blocked by the country's broadcast regulator, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority. Later that day, the Pakistan Broadcasters Association, a private industry association, issued a statement saying that the channels had been taken off air by the regulator without being given a reason or a hearing. The move came after the channels aired speeches…Read more

Two Ghanaian journalists arrested and interrogated, one allegedly tortured in custody

Ghana's Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice should immediately launch an independent investigation into the arrests of Modern Ghana editor Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and reporter Emmanuel Yeboah Britwum and security forces' alleged torture of Abugri, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 27, in Accra, the capital, Ministry of National Security officers arrested Abugri and Britwum at the offices of their employer, the privately owned news website Modern Ghana, interrogated them at Ministry of National Security offices, and confiscated their laptops and phones, according to Britwum, who…Read more

Cameroonian journalist detained on criminal defamation and false news charges

Abidjan, June 20, 2019 -- Cameroonian authorities should immediately release journalist Paul Chouta and drop criminal defamation and false news charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 28, in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, five police officers arrested Chouta, who works as a reporter for the privately owned Cameroon Web news website, in response to a defamation complaint filed by French Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala, according to Cameroon Web editor-in-chief Emmanuel Vitus, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, and a person with knowledge of the case who asked not to be…Read more

Pakistani journalist Muhammad Bilal Khan stabbed to death in Islamabad

Pakistani authorities should swiftly investigate the killing of journalist Muhammad Bilal Khan in Islamabad on 16 June to determine the motive and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. On June 16, unknown individuals attacked Khan, an independent journalist who ran a YouTube channel where he interviewed political figures and talked about religion and politics, and stabbed him to death, according to news reports. The government has vowed to investigate the killing, according to Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn. "Authorities must quickly launch a credible investigation into the killing of Muhammad Bilal Khan,…Read more

UK Home Secretary gives green light to extradite Julian Assange to the US

  • Posted on June 17, 2019
  • /Under Legal
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is deeply concerned by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s decision to sign a request by the US to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, giving the court the green light to consider the request. RSF reiterates its call on all relevant authorities to prioritise the protection of the role of journalism, including journalistic sources, in their treatment of Assange. On 13 June, UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid signed a request by the United States to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who has been indicted in the US on 18 charges related to…Read more